We sang a wonderful Thanksgiving hymn this morning during our worship with Hurstbourne Baptist Church. The first verse presents the bringing in of an agricultural harvest. The second, third, and fourth verses describe the Lord’s harvest that He will bring in at the end of time when He judges the nations. The hymn gave me a wonderful view of Anna as the harvest of the Lord. May we all be found as wholesome grain.

Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.
God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied;
Come to God’s own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God’s own field, fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown unto joy or sorrow grown.
First the blade and then the ear, then the full corn shall appear;
Lord of harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.

For the Lord our God shall come, and shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day all offenses purge away,
Giving angels charge at last in the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store in His garner evermore.

I have been taking some songs and hymns that I have heard and changing the words to reflect something true about Anna. Today we sang a song in chapel at school that did not seem to fit Anna. It was too much based in what is happening today in the world to have any applicability with Anna now that she has died. But as I sang the words, I was struck by how much I wanted them to be true of our son, Samuel. The song is “Speak, O Lord” and I have altered the words below to be a prayer for Samuel. Read them carefully and see if you cannot also sing this song for your own children.

This morning at church we sang a hymn that made me think of Anna and what she would be singing. I have changed the pronouns from “I” and “me” to “she” and “her”. The hymn reflects the thought that you would find, for example, in Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

In chapel at Southern seminary two weeks ago I had an interesting experience that gave me a new insight into worship and confession. Since Anna’s death, we have found worship difficult. Listening to the word of God preached has always been a blessing. It is often difficult, but it is always good. Singing music has been more difficult and not always as much of a blessing. We have found much of the music more banal than we did before Anna’s death. It expresses a faith far too casual and breezy for where we are right now. Read the rest of this entry »